Procedure with a death

FloatingVoter

My mother died last week. There is a will. I’m the executor and sole beneficiary. Now that the funeral is over I’m left with some stupid but necessary questions.


Do I contact our solicitors before or after I register the death ?


Do I alert the bank or will that be done automatically once the will goes to probate ?


It has probably been asked before … how long does probate (Dublin city) take ? (Aside from a non-contributory old age pension, she had no social welfare connections and there are no outstanding debts).




Thanks and sorry if this is in the wrong forum (mods - feel free to move it to the appropriate one).

Ken.

Great page on citizens info site for all your questions.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/death/the_deceaseds_estate/dealing_with_the_deceaseds_estate.html


Sorry for your loss.

FloatingVoter

ken wrote: »

Great page on citizens info site for all your questions.
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/death/the_deceaseds_estate/dealing_with_the_deceaseds_estate.html


Sorry for your loss.

Thanks, - I've been there...just wondering about the order of things. Do I cancel the standing orders from the bank now before I register the death or after (I'm worried about the heat and gas getting knocked off). I shared the house with her until shortly before she went so this isn't a remote control exchange of letters issue.
I know when the estate goes to probate our joint a/cs will be locked off for a period of time (?) and I need to hear from someone who's been through this what they'd have done differently or how they went about it.
And I don't need the solicitor charging me for making a few phone calls to utility providers / Visa that I could easily have done myself.

Bicycle

I am very sorry for your loss.

I looked after the affairs of a late relative earlier this year and am still looking after them. This is how I approached them - hopefully it may help:

Contact the Department of Social Welfare regarding the pension asap. If money is overpaid it can be problematic. You may also be entitled to apply for the funeral grant. I know things have changed in the last year regarding the implementation of the funeral grant so you'd need to check it out.

Contact the utilities companies. Explain the situation (they deal with these things all the time). They will change the bill title to the "Representatives of the late XXXX". Cut off anything you don't need. Some of them may even issue a refund.

Contact Revenue regarding the Property Tax. Ask for a deferral. You will have to sign some documentation and provide them with a copy of the death certificate but I found them great to deal with.

Contact the house insurance broker or company. Because your Mum is sadly no longer alive, the insurance may be no longer valid. The conditions will be changed because the house is no longer occupied.

Check to see if there are any life assurance policies.

The Death Certificate may take some time to come through, depending on where your Mum died. It isn't always straight forward. I would suggest you contact the local Registrar of Births Marriages and Deaths.

Regarding the bank, you have a legal obligation to inform them. They may leave the accounts open for certain bills such as funeral bills - for a set amount of time. But all SOs and DDs are automatically cancelled on death as far as I remember.

If the will is straightforward you can do the probate yourself. It will save a bit of money. You'd need to check on-line but someone I know probated their own mother's will themselves (a group of siblings who got on very well and whose mother's will was very simple and straighforward). It wasn't a difficult job.

I hope this is of some assistance.

FloatingVoter

Thanks, Bicycle...no needs to worry on the death cert front (the doctor in the hospice signed off on that already) and I'll let the bank know in the morning as regards DDs after I've alerted the gas company to keep me warm.

P_1

Sorry for your loss FloatingVoter.

Bicycle's advice is pretty much on the money. Were you and your mother living in the same house? In that case you'd need to get onto the various providers (ESB, heating, insurance etc) that were in your mother's name and either get them changed into your own name or cancel them. Also, did your mother have any life insurance policies? If so you'll need to contact the various insurers to inform them of your mother's passing.

Ken.

Just from talking to people who've had to deal with administering a persons estate the one thing they said was you can never have too many copies of the death cert. Bank,credit union,bank,phone company,electric company,gas company,insurance companies, t.v. provider etc could all require a copy. Its never ending. Get plenty of copies.

tricky D

Sorry for your loss.

A few notes: watch the bank accounts and bills for some utilities not cancelling DDs/SOs. I had to deal with one company's incompetence for 8 months before they stopped billing with all being in order re certs etc.

My own experience wrt Death Cert was I had to get a Certificate of the Cause of Death from the mortuary which I then brought almost immediately to the Office of the Registrar of Births Marriages and Deaths. I got 8 copies of the cert.

The SW may make payments for up to a further 6 weeks. Nevertheless inform them at the earliest opportunity. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/death_related_benefits/social_welfare_payments_following_a_death.html

Some financial institutions where the sums involved are large, typically over 20k will only release it with a Grant of Probate. It sounds as if your father is already deceased or otherwise 'out of the loop' (for want of a better term) which I reckon means you'll need Probate anyway.

There might also be other considerations, generally in your favour, if you were living with your mother's home as your main residence for a number of years. Eg Exemptions at bottom of http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/capital_taxes/capital_acquisitions_tax.html

gl/hth

FloatingVoter

Thanks to everyone. Yeah - the amounts involved are above 20k. My dad is deceased also. So probate and solicitors are a necessity. The house is in my mothers name but I've been living there as my principal private for a decade so the solicitors will be needed to get that in order. I'm not taking a shortcut now and winding up in legal limbo regarding deeds in a few years time.
Thanks again to everyone so far for pitching in - this crap seems easy in the movies but never is in reality.

P_1

Anything legal (probate etc) is best left to the solicitors to be honest, it's what they're paid for after all. Main thing to do would be to get a timeframe and accurate quote from the solicitor as soon as possible though to prevent the legal bills from mounting up as best you can though

tricky D

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Thanks to everyone. Yeah - the amounts involved are above 20k. My dad is deceased also. So probate and solicitors are a necessity. The house is in my mothers name but I've been living there as my principal private for a decade so the solicitors will be needed to get that in order. I'm not taking a shortcut now and winding up in legal limbo regarding deeds in a few years time.

Yup, you can take that a change of deeds means Probate. Fortunately in your position you've less pressure as you've no others to potentially pressurise you into selling up quicker than you'd like and a potential CAT break to boot.

While it might sound obvious, get a filing system in order, make your lists of to dos and figure out the priorities. Don't forget to note the current values/balances of financial assets soon. It can help make probate less burdensome.

Victor

Bicycle wrote: »

The Death Certificate may take some time to come through, depending on where your Mum died. It isn't always straight forward. I would suggest you contact the local Registrar of Births Marriages and Deaths.

Where there is a delay with the full Death Certificate, e.g. uncertainty on cause of death, an Interim Certificate of the Fact of Death can be issued.

brian_t

ken wrote: »

Just from talking to people who've had to deal with administering a persons estate the one thing they said was you can never have too many copies of the death cert. Bank,credit union,bank,phone company,electric company,gas company,insurance companies, t.v. provider etc could all require a copy. Its never ending. Get plenty of copies.

It's cheaper to get all these copies the first time.

If you have to go back for more copies they will charge you to do a search.

FloatingVoter

brian_t wrote: »

It's cheaper to get all these copies the first time.

If you have to go back for more copies they will charge you to do a search.

I'd imagine so. Off the top of my head, I'll probably need 5 - so I'm going to double it and look for 10. The copy for social welfare looks to be cheaper than the others.

FloatingVoter

Aggggh - got my cert and the copies at €20 a pop = €160. Now I realise I could have got unreg'd copies for €4 a copy. Nice of the "people" down there to explain that to me at the time. Still, I used her card to pay for it and that a/c gets closed tomorrow. I'll leave instructions with the bank regarding my opinion of their little scam.

Gas / Electricty - updated over the phone - no need for a cert. No problems.

House Insurance - Details noted, they only need me to get back when probate comes through and I'm the new legal owner. They'll review the case when it comes up for renewal next year. No problems.

Social Welfare - pension stopped. Application form for bereavement grant on way. Very understanding. No need for cert providing she died in Ireland.

Bank - drop in death cert tomorrow and have a chat about accounts.

Solicitor - c. €5000 to cover the probate and the transfer of deeds. I am in the wrong job. I'm meeting them next week to get that stuff itemised and put in writing.

VHI - to do.

UPC - to do.

Now I'm off to pull the a last €100 from the mother's a/c and have a drink. And a hot meal. Cookery courses - here I come.

Thanks again for all the help. I needed it.